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Sequestration impacts Head Start

Automatic federal budget cutting, known as sequestration, is having an impact on education preparedness for pre-kindergarten students. Ruidoso Municipal School District interim Superintendent Patty White said Head Start already has gone under the knife.

"For schools, they're saying it shouldn't affect us in this budget year," White said. "We don't know (budget year) 13-14. Head Start runs on a January to December fiscal year and they received a memo saying an immediate 5 percent cut."

"They" refers to the Region IX Education Cooperative, which provides services to school districts in Lincoln and Otero counties.

Head Start is a federal program that promotes school readiness of children ages birth to five who are from low-income families. The program's focus is to enhance young children with cognitive, social and emotional development.

What might be impacted for the 2013-14 school year is unknown at this time.

"Could it be lower than we had in the past for special ed?" Board member Curt Temple asked.

"It could be," White replied. "And that also could be part of the MOE (Maintenance of Effort - which forbids the use of federal dollars to replace state or local dollars for a number of programs) with our state and the federal. There's some big issues there that haven't been resolved and the state has asked for a waiver from the federal government but to my knowledge has not received that waiver," White said.

District Finance Director Caron Snow said more information may come at a pre-budget conference.

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"They're really scrambling to get some of that information together on particularly the federal flow-through and federal direct (funds)," Snow said. "I'm almost certain we'll get some information there."

Federal budget cuts through sequestration aim to trim $85 billion during the federal fiscal year that runs through September. Addition budget trimming will continue over the next nine years to reduce the federal debt by $1.2 trillion. In 2011, Congress passed the Budget Control Act and President Obama signed it into law.

The cuts are divided evenly between defense and non-defense spending though some programs such as Social Security, Medicaid and federal payrolls are exempt.